History can't bear to look at the complete collection

Chapter 15 Concubine Files 5
The "Life of a Prisoner of War" of Sui Yangdi's Wife

In 582 A.D., the second year of the Sui Dynasty, according to the order of his parents and the words of a matchmaker, the 13-year-old "King of Jin" Yang Guang married the 12-year-old Xiao Shi.Then they lived together until the spring of 618, when the Sui Dynasty was in turmoil, Emperor Sui Yang was forced by his subordinates and hanged himself to death, while Empress Xiao fell into the hands of Yu Wenhuaji, the powerful minister at that time, and became a prisoner of war and kept in the palace.According to "Sui Shu?According to the records in "Biography", this marriage is written as: "Huaji then enters the sixth palace, and it is self-supporting, just like the story of Emperor Yang."

Emperor Sui Yang is dead, so Xiao's situation will not be much better.Although Xiao Shi was no longer young, he was still dignified and handsome. Yu Wenhuaji naturally coveted Xiao Shi. In 619, Yu Wenhuaji took Xiao Shi and ran to Wei County to become emperor behind closed doors.

But it is a pity that the good times don't last long. Being an emperor is not so easy, especially in turbulent times. Unless he is strong enough, he can only wait to be overthrown.Before Yu Wenhuaji had time to consolidate his power, Dou Jiande led a peasant uprising army to kill him. Dou Jiande called himself "King of Great Xia" and kept avenging the dead Yang Guang.

Yu Wenhua and Dou Jiande started a fierce battle in Liaocheng. Dou Jiande's army was very powerful. He used his own chariot and threw stones on the city wall. This very primitive "earth cannon" made Yu Wenhua difficult to parry. Liaocheng finally fell and fell into the hands of Dou Jiande, and Xiao Shi was also taken over by Dou Jiande.

Xiao fell into the hands of a man again. Although she chose to commit suicide this time, she was rescued by Dou Jiande's subordinates. Dou Jiande claimed to be Yang Guang's supporter and treated Xiao with courtesy. Book?"Biography" said: "When Jiande entered the city, he first paid a visit to Queen Xiao of the Sui Dynasty, and became a minister with words."

Even so, Xiao did not gain real freedom. She has been in Dou Jiande's army. Although there is no record in history that she was forcibly occupied by Dou Jiande, from some ancient documents, it seems that Dou Jiande and Xiao's make some inferences about the relationship.

There is a record in the "Old Tang Book": "Every time Jiande breaks the city, the wealth obtained is distributed to the generals, and nothing is taken. He does not eat meat, and often eats only vegetables and millet rice. Among them His wife, Mrs. Cao, doesn't wear rich clothes, and she has only a dozen maidservants and concubines. So far, thousands of palace people have been won, and they have good looks, so they should be released at the right time."

From this period of history, it can be seen that Dou Jiande is a gentleman, he will not occupy other people's wives and daughters, and the most important thing is that Dou Jiande's wife, Mrs. Cao, is very tough and guards Dou Jiande strictly, and he is never allowed to have sex with other women. There was an affair, and the Xiao family didn't stay there for a long time. After about two or three months, she was transferred to the Turkic people again.

Turkic is a frightening term for Central Plains people. Turkic people are rough and heroic, and Turkic people’s "Hu custom" is even more unacceptable to Central Plains people who have been educated by Confucianism since childhood: on the premise of no blood relationship, a son can inherit a woman from his father’s generation , the younger brother can remarry the elder brother's wife and concubine.In Turks, women are like animals, taken over by others, without emotion at all.The reason Xiao Shi went to Turkic was because Princess Yicheng of Turkic wanted her away from Dou Jiande.

This Princess Yicheng was married to Qiming Khan by Yang Jian 20 years ago.Later, when her husband died, she remarried Shibi Khan, Chuluo Khan and Jieli Khan from the "sons".Regarding this period of history, the "Sui Shu" briefly mentioned: "Luo Khan from the Turks sent envoys to meet him in Mingzhou, but Jiande did not dare to stay, so he entered the court of captivity."

Regardless of whether Xiao was willing to go to Turkic with Princess Yicheng or not, she was a helpless widow who could only obey the arrangements of others and had no right to make decisions of her own. Khan's sleeping tent.Later, Chuluo Khan died, and the two sisters-in-law married his younger brother, Jieli Khan, as a matter of course.

The Xiao family, who lived in Turkic, had long given up the idea of ​​returning to the Central Plains. Until 630 AD, Turkic was defeated, Princess Yicheng died, and Jieli Khan was captured.She just returned to Chang'an, but at this time she was still a "prisoner of war". After returning to Chang'an, although she was treated courteously by the Tang Dynasty, she lived in seclusion, lived alone for 18 years, and died alone.

"Zi Zhi Tong Jian?"Tang Ji" said: "Gengzi, the descendant of Sui and Xiao. The imperial edict restored his title, and his posthumous title was Min; he made the third rank protect the burial, prepare the brine book and guard, and send it to Jiangdu to be buried with Emperor Yang." After the death of Empress Xiao , she was buried together with Emperor Sui Yang, and the husband and wife finally stayed together.

(End of this chapter)